Ushering out strlcpy()

It's very similar, however whereas self in Python is just a convention, self in Rust is a keyword, using it signals that you mean for this function to be a method, and so the type is implied. Not all functions implemented for a type in Rust have to be methods. Consider these two functions in the implementation of Goose:

fn is_wealthy(&self) -> bool { self.net_worth > 1000 }

fn is_healthy(goose: &Self) -> bool { self.hit_points > 90 }

The is_wealthy function can be used as a method, the self keyword means if I have a Goose named jimmy I can write:

if jimmy.is_wealthy() { println!("Swimming in money"); } else { println!("Aww, poor Jimmy"); }
OR
if Goose::is_wealthy(&jimmy) { println!("Swimming in money"); } else { println!("Aww, poor Jimmy"); }

But the is_healthy function is not a method, it's only an associated function. That capitalized word "Self" is also a keyword, but it just means "my type" and so we could have written Goose instead. So I always need to write:

if Goose::is_healthy(&jimmy) { println!("Feeling good"); } else { println!("Jimmy needs a goose doctor"); }

I believe this distinction does not exist in Python. The reason it is used in Rust is that sometimes a type exists mostly as a "pass through" for some other type, and so by having only associated functions instead of methods it is hidden from accidental method invocations. For example Rc and Arc are smart pointers offering reference counting, but they sport associated functions not methods, so that you need to say e.g. Rc::downgrade(&thing) and thus if thing.downgrade() already means something else the reference counted type doesn't get in your way.